Pope Urges Followers to Tweet, Battle Trolls

Listen up. The Pope thinks you should stop posting selfies and photos of what you eat to Twitter and Facebook, and focus on spreading the good word. Well, unless Jesus has appeared on your morning toast, I presume.

Joking aside, Pope Benedict today called on followers to use social media to urge believers "to consider how their presence on these networks can help spread the Gospel message of God's love for all people."

"Believers are increasingly aware that, unless the Good News is made known also in the digital world, it may be absent in the experience of many people for whom this existential space is important," he said in a statement delivered as part of the 47th World Communications Day.

"Social networks, as well as being a means of evangelization, can also be a factor in human development," the Pope continued. "As an example, in some geographical and cultural contexts where Christians feel isolated, social networks can reinforce their sense of real unity with the worldwide community of believers."

The Pope's comments also come on the feast day of St Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and writers.

In speaking with the official Vatican news site, Mgr Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, said the Pope's message is intended to prove that his recent move to embrace social media "wasn't just a one-off event."

The Pontiff joined Twitter in mid-December via the @Pontifex handle. His first few messages were focused on Jesus and the Year of Faith. He currently has more than 1.45 million followers, and tweeted this week about false idols, among other things.

"The Pope is asking two fundamental questions," Tighe said. "How can new media contribute to human progress and secondly, what can we Christians do in that arena to help and support the development of social networks in a positive manner?"

Meanwhile, it appears the Pope is not impressed by Internet trolls. "At times the gentle voice of reason can be overwhelmed by the din of excessive information and it fails to attract attention which is given instead to those who express themselves in a more persuasive manner," the Pope said. "The social media thus need the commitment of all who are conscious of the value of dialogue, reasoned debate and logical argumentation; of people who strive to cultivate forms of discourse and expression which appeal to the noblest aspirations of those engaged in the communication process."